This year has seen 22 million tourists come to Turkey. Eight million of them chose Antalya, on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey. Antalya’s large planning center still has hundreds of projects on its shelves, all of which aim to promote the city even further.

Antalya Mayor Menderes Turel says that a sewage plant, the construction of which was completed within 5.5 months, now prevents waste from 250,000 people from flowing into the sea. Such a beautiful city, loved by the entire world, has reached this stage despite all those plans, projects, and promises. Its infrastructure has still not been completed and yet I am sure no administrator feels any responsibility in this. Hia Nevval I note in your article the value attached to wards providing and attracting tourism. This is of course a major money spinner for many economies and it can make a substantial impact on the earnings through foreign exchange. I recently had a good fortune to visit Istanbul and Ankara. My initial experience over whelmed me, particularly the rich and historical past. I was very moved by the hospitality and the kindness given to us. The people were so helpful and friendly that we felt proud to have been able to experience this wealth of Turkish society. However, I do have some minor concerns about the facilities offered to the tourist in these big cities. One of these is that there was lack of strategically placed information centres which would really help people like us who have an extremely limited knowledge of the country. One had to try and look very hard to find right details which could be frustrating and time consuming. The public transport system seemed so complex that even the locals would sometime struggle to work out how to direct us. I am sure this would one of the important items for improvement in the mind of Turist Board. Regards amjad khan Thank you for your invite, I certainly hope that I am able to make more journeys to your lovely country and rich my life with more immensely delightful experiences as my family and I had in our last visit. In fact, Mr. Turel proves many things can be done only in one year if only one wishes it. A masterplan for development and construction of public facilities and transportation will be completed for the first time this year. The mayor’s most remarkable characteristic is that he comes from a long-established family in Antalya. He has several stories and memories in each corner of the city. Antalya, which looks like a concrete jungle when viewed from above, is still a very beautiful city. Turel, who won the municipal elections with 35 percent of all votes, received 46 percent support in a survey conducted a year later. Described as a “young and dynamic” candidate during his election campaign, the mayor is now known for his diligence and frankness. The mayor never replies to aggressive criticisms in a similarly aggressive style and is happy because the opposition against him does not include any allegations of corruption. “Those, who are in power, are criticized for what they do. But here we are criticized for what we don’t do and we’d never do,” he adds. Noting that he is not pleased with the change of hands of Kaleici, the mayor said everything would be revised and restored. If Kaleici is no longer treated as decoration but rather a revival of the old Antalya, the city will benefit from this at high levels. Transportation from Belek to Antalya’s downtown is rather difficult. Tourists coming to Belek mostly return to their countries without seeing the real Antalya. Turel plans to construct a railroad system between Belek and Antalya which aims to reinvigorate Antalya, a city and a center that is worth a walk around at nighttime. “We usually worry about walking around Antalya during the night time,” the mayor says and has launched an initiative to bring light and security to every corner of the city. They aim to provide a secure environment for tourists to walk comfortably in the streets. Turel, who views social and cultural activities as the municipality’s essential duties, has benefited from theatre in many ways. For instance, he provided students of 44 high schools a play based on a true-life story: “My 18 Years”, a play about the fight against drug addiction. Turel’s goal is to make Antalya a trade, congress and tourism center and to extend the “season” to 12 months there. Some hotels present their customers the culture of Yoruk nomads in addition to football, golf and rafting events which are encouraged in Antalya. A new system allowing those who want to settle in Antalya after their retirement has opened a new era. This system is also practiced in the island of Majorca and works as a kind of settlement-based tourism. A German village in Alanya is an example of this. Antalya prepares to become sister city to Yafa and Gaza There are 62,000 squatter houses in Antalya, which pulls the highest number of immigrants. Twenty percent of its population comes from Southeastern Anatolian Region of Turkey and they are settled in the Kepez region. Pro-Kurdish Democratic People’s Party (DEHAP) could win only seven percent of votes from this region in the last elections. I must also say that a visit to the 7 Mehmet Restaurant is an essential part of any visit to Antalya. 7 Mehmet is the oldest restaurant in the city. The brothers Hakki and Sadik Akdag, following the tradition of the “Ahi Brotherhood” ( a religious fraternity developed by the 14th-century leader Ahi Avran from a medieval craftsmen’s guild), present a unique range of dishes at their restaurant. They are living examples of how to work in the service sector. They go to the bazaar and control prices and quality themselves and often sleep at the restaurant instead of going home. Their father Mehmet Akdag taught his sons to learn all aspects of the business. Some have even asked Hakki to play the piano in the restaurant but this is a step too far: “I cannot learn playing the piano at this age. If the cook runs away, I can cook; if the waiter runs away, I can serve, but if the pianist runs away, I cannot play!” he joked. A visit to Antalya shows Turkey is not in need of more industry. Everything we provide through promotion of tourism and cultures, as well as protection of the environment, will attract the attention of the entire world. August 30, 2005 hi mrs. sevindi how are you. ı wish you are fine. ı read your writing everytime. ı like it. because your writing is very logical. thank you very much for it. ı want to ask you someask. what do you say? 1. do you like from turkey? 2.do you like from türkiye’s PEOPLE? we are like you. because we are all brothers and sisters. byeeee ALPAY KAYA

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